Checking In [Julian/Jo]
[backdated to Julian's hospital release]
Finally released from the hospital, Julian was walking with a cane to support the wound to his hip. It was regularly annoying, reminding him about his own vulnerability. If the knife hadn't been silver, he would have healed in moments. Instead, he had to endure a surgery, stitching, and now a month of physical therapy to make sure his muscles healed properly. With the damage silver could do to his system, he had to be extra-careful about letting it heal properly. Since his body was unused to such a slow process.
He was still worried about Jo. That cop hadn't come back, so he guessed no one had figured out who she was yet. Or caught her. He hoped she was okay, but at the same time, he was worried. She hadn't been herself, not at all -- in a very literal sense. He'd been thinking about this while lying in that stupid hospital bed, and had finally come to a decision.
The bike was easier to ride than trying to work the clutch on the Shelby, so Julian rode over to the motel where Dean and Jo stayed. It was no mystery - he'd walked Jo home before, and had smelled Dean enough to know they were together. He was going to have to convince Dean that something was wrong with Jo, and then try to help him find her again. Julian parked the bike and strode up to the motel door, knocking while holding his breath.
And hoping like hell that Dean wouldn't try and stab him too.
Dean was currently out. Jo was still trying to recover from the month she'd lost. A part of her wanted to get back out there and just hunt whatever she could find until she was completely distracted from everything that was going on. But if she was being honest with herself, she'd done that after she'd come back from the dead. She'd jumped right back into working and hunting and had rushed into things with Dean and when it came down to it, she hadn't fixed anything.
So she was taking a few days to recover before she dived back into things. She wasn't sure yet if she would try to beg for her job back. That would require coming up with some sort of cover story for why she'd disappeared without calling or anything, and really.. it would probably be best to try to find a job somewhere else.
She wasn't expecting anyone and Dean hadn't mentioned anyone dropping by, so at the sound of the knock, Jo froze. She grabbed one of the guns out of Dean's weapons stash and then made sure those were stored out of sight. The motel didn't have any sort of chain on the door, so she just opened it, ready to fight if need be. The salt line and devil's traps were hidden under the welcome mat, so that would provide some line of defense.
"Can I help you?" she asked, looking over the guy that she didn't think she'd ever seen before, the suspicion clearly etched into her features. </font>
For an instant, when Jo opened the door, Julian flinched. Instinct wanted him to tuck tail and run, and his flinch was strong enough to make him overbalance on his cane and stumble to catch himself.
No reason to run, he was rapidly telling himself. No reason to run, she's talking to you, she's okay, she's TALKING, DOOFUS!
"S- sorry," he said, getting his feet and cane properly under him. "I was... I was looking for Dean?" Crap, now that Jo was here, he didn't really need to see Dean, did he? "Kinda." God, she was already suspicious, and here he was, acting like a bumbling idiot.
There was something powerfully familiar about his eyes. Jo couldn't put her finger on it, but she knew that she'd remember this guy if she'd seen him before. After all, he was pretty easy on the eyes.
In actuality, the uncertainty was putting her at ease. A little bit, anyway. If he was something that was after Dean, she was pretty sure he wouldn't look so much like a deer caught in headlights. But all the same, Jo wasn't just going to trust him. It wasn't like Dean had many people he was close with. And he wasn't exactly the type to go out and make new friends very often.
"He's not here," she said, though that was a pretty obvious statement. It wasn't like there was a whole lot of room to see into from the door. "But I could tell him you stopped by?"
Even if she knew where Dean was currently, she definitely wasn't giving that information out. Nor was she offering his cell phone number. If Dean hadn't given it out to this guy, then he didn't need to have it.
"Oh. Right." Julian shook his head. "Uh, no. It's nothing. Just, uh... nothing, really. Kinda dumb." He chuckled a bit, turned that into a cough. "It's Jo, right?" He looked back at her, his amber-touched eyes searching hers as he drew in a deep breath through his nostrils. It was just her. He couldn't smell that oddity any longer. He could smell the oil and gunpowder of the gun in the back of her pants, dried blood and alcohol on her ankle mingled with the fresh scent of tattoo ink, a dozen other weapons within the room, and the heavy scent of Dean's temporal ghost.
But she was just herself again. He could tell by her eyes, the way she held herself, the way she spoke. But truth was in the scent.
He shifted back a bit, drawing away slightly. "I'm glad you're okay," he said, a faint, genuine smile touching his lips. Whatever had been riding her before, he couldn't detect it now. Then he blinked, shook his head a bit, and started to retreat. "Um. I should go. I guess I'll... call Dean later or something."
Jo raised an eyebrow. He knew her name? Why did he know her name? And why was he glad she was okay? Dean wouldn't have...
"I really don't mind passing on a message. How do you know Dean?" she asked.
She wasn't sure if she was expecting a straight answer, but she was curious all the same.
Her look was getting a bit more intense. Julian backed up another step, holding the cane with both hands. "I, uh... I met him at the fair. The corn maze." He tried a smile, and it came out awkward. "He sorta saved my ass in that mess."
Oh, what the hell. Jo was back to herself, and she seemed alright. He could probably let the whole mess go. "Just wanted to get something back to him," he said, lifting one hand slowly. He knew she was armed, so he moved carefully, lifting his hand to his coat and reaching inside for the little bundle containing Jo's knife. It was wrapped up in some clean rags, but Julian wasn't going to risk touching the silver blade again.
He offered it to her, moving away as soon as she had her hand closed over it.
Jo returned the-albeit, awkward-smile. She accepted the small bundle and felt the weight of it. She knew her knives inside and out, and the weight of whatever this was definitely felt familiar. She unwrapped the rags to reveal her silver knife. She'd noticed it was missing a little while after she'd had more time to register everything.
The knife was clean, but still... she looked up at him, her eyes wide.
"How did you get this?" she asked slowly.
He was injured. That was fairly obvious, given the cane and the way he was holding himself, like he was hurting. Could she have done something to him? That would explain why he'd been surprised to see her. It wouldn't explain why he was willingly handing the knife back to her right now though.
Julian was already moving, walking away. Back to the Ducati, wincing slightly as he swung his leg over, and dropping the cane when he tried to slip it into the rigged sheath. He groaned, knowing she would probably come and follow him now, but he had to climb back off the bike to retrieve the cane.
"Not a big deal," he said, not looking back at her. "Just wanted to get it back. Here. Not mine and all."
Jo put the knife down and then rushed after him.
"What happened?" she asked, gesturing to his hip and to the scar across his shoulder.
She had to know. If he'd seen her while she was possessed.... that was still a huge gap in her memory and if she'd hurt someone, she wanted to know so she could at least apologize. Not that 'I'm sorry I stabbed you' was ever really the easiest thing to say.
Julian stopped, his eyes shut. He could hear the plea in her voice, smell her distress. She didn't know what had happened, did she?
He looked back, and locked eyes with her. His head tilted to the side, just a little, with an animal intensity. "Jo... what happened to you?" He swallowed thickly, and licked his lips. "You weren't at work. I waited. I couldn't find you. And then I.... caught your scent. Tracked you into the woods."
He pulled his eyes away now, shutting them. "It wasn't you. I know it wasn't you. I'm sorry I hurt you, but I was trying to snap you out of it. I don't... my bite won't do anything to you, I swear. I was just worried."
His eyes were squeezed shut now, body braced for rejection, for anger, for whatever she would let out at his confession.
Jo's brow furrowed in confusion.
"You were- you-" she blinked in surprise.
His eyes. That was why they were familiar. He was the wolf. It didn't make sense-not if she was going on what she knew about werewolves, but nothing here fit what she thought she knew. And there wasn't any other explanation. The wolf bite, his eyes... it all fit.
"No, I wasn't in control. I'm sorry I hurt you. I can't..." she bit her lip. "I can't remember it. Any of it. I don't know what happened."
She blinked back tears.
"You helped me out on that hunt. And you walked me home all those nights. Why?"
If he hadn't said that he'd met Dean at the Corn maze, she would have almost thought that Dean might have asked him to do that. It would be a very Dean thing to do-trying to check up on her, as if she couldn't handle herself.
When she wasn't hitting him, he risked a look back. The tears in her eyes made him wince, and Julian shook his head. "You didn't hurt me. I know it wasn't you. I could smell it." He sat down on the Ducati, taking the weight off his hip, but made no move to start the engine. "As for why... I dunno." He shrugged a shoulder. "It was nice, having a friend. Someone who could see things like that creature, and know it was bad. I couldn't have stopped it myself. And after that..."
He sighed a bit. "I guess... I was lonely? I haven't lived here very long, and... you can imagine I don't make many friends."
Lonely. Jo could relate to that. While she'd always had her mom and she'd had Ash for quite awhile, she wasn't exactly making friends and influencing people everywhere she went. She'd been okay with hunting on her own until her mom had joined her, but that didn't mean that she wasn't lonely sometimes during that time. Or hell, even after her mom had joined her, it still would have been nice to have someone closer in age.
"I can relate. I'm not exactly the poster child for 'normal' myself," she said with a self-deprecating smile. "Especially now. For what it's worth, I thought we worked well together on that hunt. And I kinda liked having a friend to walk me home."
After all, not many people had come back from the dead. Then again, she realized with a start that she knew two others who had returned from the dead, but perhaps that just spoke to the strange circles that she was running in.
"Look, if you ever see something like that again-someone who's not themselves-run the other way. Maybe come tell me or Dean, okay? I don't know for sure what was in the driver's seat then, but whatever it was was dangerous."
She sighed.
"I'm sorry. I don't even know-what's your name?"
Julian frowned at her warning, but he shook his head. "I won't do that. I'll come find someone, sure, but I'm not just going to run away. I'm not... I'm one of them. Not as strong, maybe, but I'm stronger than a... a normal human. I don't want to see people get hurt. I don't want something to get away from me if I can try and stop it."
He looked back at her, something dark glimmering in his eyes. Something solid, strong. "I might not be a hunter, like you and Dean. I might prefer painting and sculpting to fighting. But that doesn't change what I am. Or what I can do. I might not be human, not completely, but I care about them enough to try and help them if I can."
His gaze dropped a bit when his swell of anger abated. "Julian," he said. "My name's Julian." After a moment's hesitation, he offered his hand.
Jo took his hand and shook it.
"Nice to-uh, officially meet you, Julian."
She could respect not wanting to run away. How many times had she been told to steer clear of the things that went bump in the night? She wasn't going to tell anyone else not to fight. Not if they knew the risks and wanted to try to help.
"So does Dean know?"
Whether she was asking if Dean knew that Julian was a werewolf or that he'd been hanging out with Jo while in wolf form wasn't exactly specified. She was curious about how much he did know. She wasn't sure how Dean would do with the idea of someone who was a werewolf following her home from work some nights. For that matter, she didn't know how Dean would handle someone who was a werewolf period. Hunters had good reason to not be the most openminded when it came to people with supernatural abilities.
His smile warmed a bit. "Nice to meet you too, Jo." It was a new feeling, having people knew what he was and still be willing to speak to him. Even - especially - if they were hunters. He'd been warned about hunters. Again and again. But he found himself liking Dean and Jo despite that.
At her question, Julian let out his breath. "He knows... that I'm garou. In the corn maze, we sorta ran into the Wolfman. It was a little tough trying to keep my instinct reigned in. But it was a bit before I saw you again, and then I recognized his scent. I didn't think he'd appreciate a werewolf tailing his girlfriend." He grimaced a bit. "He wasn't exactly oozing with friendship and trust when he figured out what I am."
He looked back to her eyes. "I meant what I said, though. I'm not cursed. There's no infection in my bite. I was born like this. I keep my own mind when I Change. I'm careful."
Well, the fact that Dean hadn't seen Julian change and shot first, asked questions later was actually a sign that he had changed. Of course, the fact that he wasn't still looking for ways to kill Phaedra and actually seemed to consider Harry a trusted friend were pretty big signs as well.
"I believe you," Jo told Julian. "As for Dean... hunters don't usually run into your type of werewolf. We're the ones who come in to protect people from the kind that loses control and just kills everything in it's sight." She shrugged. "Not to mention that most of us have seen enough bad that we don't usually trust anyone to begin with."
She was going to have to figure out a way to explain all this to Dean. For that matter, she was going to have to figure out a way to explain why she hadn't told him about the wolf hanging around to begin with. She supposed it was because she did trust the wolf and didn't really know how to explain why or how to get Dean to not get all overprotective about it.
Julian smirked a bit. "Must suck to be dealing with only the killer parts of the supernatural world," he said. "Don't you get to see anything nice? There's a lot of beauty in the world too, Jo. I'd be sorry to hear you didn't get to see that once in a while."
His voice went just a little wistful at that, but there was a happiness in his eyes. It was one of the reasons he loved art, to capture those moments of beauty and spread them further into the world. His mother had taught him that, long ago.
The wistfulness in Julian's voice got to her, just a little. There was a lot of doom and gloom in a hunter's life. Every once in awhile, her mom had made a point to insist that they just take a couple of days off. She hadn't done that since she'd come back from the dead. In fact, she didn't know many hunters that were able to just stop and 'smell the roses' every once in awhile.
"I save people. There's nothing better than knowing, at the end of the day, that someone might live because I've done my job. It's not pretty or easy, but it's worth it. But back when I was hunting with my Mom, yeah, there were times when we'd take a detour just to see something that didn't have to do with monsters. It was nice."
She tried to hide the catch in her voice. She hadn't given herself much time to think about how much she missed her mom. Yeah, sure, they'd fought a lot sometimes. But that didn't mean that they didn't love each other and it didn't mean that hunting with her mom hadn't been pretty great sometimes.
He smiled. The catch in her voice hadn't gone unnoticed, but he wasn't going to draw any attention to it. "My mom showed me the beautiful things about the world too," he said. "A lot of it... had to do with what we are. I didn't know it at the time, but she was trying to teach me that. She was gone before I came of age, before my first Change."
Julian eyed her. "Don't forget those things, Jo. Please don't. Don't forget that the world can still be something wonderful."